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sPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO:
THE ART OF DENIAL
(Light Spoilers Ahead!)
Space Battleship Yamato, and it’s 2013 remake Space Battleship Yamato: 2199, is ultimately a story about a Japanese history, which did not take place. The story takes place in the distant future, as earth is on the brink of defeat at the hands of an alien empire known as the Gamilas Empire. In order to defeat the Gamilas Empire, the human race must turn to its last hope, which in this case is the Yamato, a real World War II battleship revamped to be an all powerful spaceship ready to defeat the Gamilas. The story follows the Yamato and her crew of all Japanese soldiers as they fight back the Gamilas Empire winning victory after victory.
The Gamilas empire has striking similarities to Nazi Germany in a few ways. Firstly, the empire is a race of green skinned aliens that find other races beneath them. They also are a militaristic empire, hell-bent on taking over the world, as they stop at nothing to eradicate a whole species without a thought. Most strikingly is the blatant language of the Gamilas as the main villain is known as Fuhrer Dresler and when addressed, his military officers shout “Hail Dresler,” quite obviously an allusion to Nazi Germany. The Yamato itself is also a metaphor for Japan, as the Yamato is a real Japanese battleship, and the entire crew is Japanese. In essence, Space Battleship Yamato is a false retelling of World War II, where Japan fights the Nazi Empire instead of aligning with them.
Space Battleship Yamato mirrors the actions of Shinzo Abe and the LDP. Abe actively revised textbooks and denied the past in order to garner pride in the Japanese people. Abe did not want the Japanese people looking at the nation’s past with guilt, but instead with pride and revere. Space Battleship Yamato does just this as it tells the story of a heroic Japan, standing up to the Nazi threat. The Yamato empowers the Japanese people, showing them that their nation can be strong and achieve great things, however this is at the cost of history, which is rewritten in order to do so.